Our 2 year old researching a new car.

Last week Mighty-Mo contracted an oozing case of pink eye. Our poor kid looked like a prize fighter hoping for the bell to sound. A phone call describing swollen, blood shot eyes, prompted our Pediatrician to call in an eye drop prescription to the local pharmacy. It quickly cleared up in about three days. Putting one drop in each eye of a two year old is quite the challenge.

My wife turned her ankle so bad last weekend that we thought she had fractured a bone or two. Swelling and the inability to put any weight on it directed her to an urgent care facility (this is *another* story). No fractures, but a walking cast [read: funny black velcro shoe-boot], crutches and an ice bag were in order. They wanted to put her in a fiberglass cast. Her reply was: “I have a two year old at home.” They complied and gave her the ‘shoe’.

Seven days later my wife ventures out of the house for the first time. I watched our super-hero baby at home. Mz.D went grocery shopping. She reports putting everything into the bottom of the shopping cart and nothing in the “child seat” area until half way through her trip. Habits die hard. She finally realized that she could actually *leave* her cart unattended. Ah, sweet freedom.

I’d fill you in on more, but I have a raging case of PINK EYE blurring my vision.

Baby toys with sound:

Batteries power delightful aural stimulation, creating a sense of awe. The durational patience differs from adult to child. A 10 to 1 ratio.

Electrical tape covering sound holes offer a compromise. Muted fire trucks, trolley bells and calliope’s offer sanity long after Santa has left.

Yesterday’s Hamburg RC Airplane Club Airshow was great. There was a nice crowd on hand and LOTS of planes. I took a few pictures that can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/qf2yn
This picture is a close up of Joel’s WWI fighter pilot. Look at those steely blue eyes. You got a bogey on your tail! Pull up!

It’s amazing how Mason picks up on things. Things that have buttons or switches. Not shirt buttons – but remote controls, calculators, computer keyboards, cordless phones, stereos, TV’s, DVD players… need I go on? He has in the past weeks been able to:

1). Press the ‘play’ button on the DVD player
2) Turn on the T.V.
3) Then crawl up on the couch and watch Baby Einstein.

He’s only 18 months old.

Just a few minutes ago Mz.D and I were sitting upstairs (me blogging, her reading the paper). I turned to her and said, “It’s too quiet. Where’s Mason?” I went and looked down the stairs and there he was on the couch, remote in one hand and his woobie in the other – watching T.V. When I told Mz.D she calmly replied that he must have turned it on himself, as she had switched it off earlier.

Kids watch everything we do and say. Mason has studied which buttons we push a hundred times, covertly planning to take over our multi media environment someday. Now if I can just keep him from putting the P.C.’s cordless mouse in his mouth. The whole thing reminds me of that little girl watching T.V. in the movie Poltergeist. The T.V. channel looses its reception and she says, “They’re heeeere.”

He’s heeeeeere.

Newsflash: Mark this date on your calendars – 7/31/06. Not because the heat index is over 100 degrees today, but because Mighty Mo sat on his potty chair and POOPED for the first time! He actually did #1 too. But he’s done that before. The real landmark was going #2. He sits patiently while pulling off tiny little peices of toilet paper (kind of in a “She loves me. She loves me not.” way) and putting them between his legs into the potty.

So you wonder why this is so great? It’s a first step. And when you sit down to do your business at 17 months old, it’s a big step.

GO MO!

The company I work for sponsored a day at The Toledo Zoo. This is a great zoo – world renowned, clean, easy to get around (if you like baby stroller demolition derby) and of course lots of great animals.
We took Mighty Mo (a.k.a Primate Mo) of course. I think he was more into people watching. It’s hard to see past people when you are strapped in a stroller. He had a concerned look on his face when he saw the monkeys.
Below are some shots I took. There are some more at my photogallery [scroll down the page when you get there].

[Below] Close up of an ape’s hand – Fingerprints and all…

[Below] A juvenile elephant.

[Below] A White Rhino. He looks fake in a way.